We reached out to Tom Bob and asked him some questions about his work. We wanted to get a glimpse into his transformations of everyday objects into whimsical characters, and we learned that: “When walking the streets, the surprise of running into cool objects to paint is always an adventure.
Sometimes the object tells me what it is, other times it takes me a while to figure out what to make it. I liken it to Michelangelo's quote about carving the statue of David: he said ‘David was always in the marble, I just had to bring him out.’ That's how I see everyday objects and transform them.”
Tom has shared with us how he goes about choosing the locations for his new art installations: “During the Covid lockdown, I would get on Google Maps and do street views of cities around the world, I have hundreds of ideas I would love to make from objects found online. Some pieces I make are not approved, most are. There are many factors in getting them made, it's not like a studio practice where if I have a great idea, I can just make it, that's the frustrating part. Some cities are very open and accepting of street art, while others are more conservative and don't want change.
I love seeing neighborhoods full of murals, graffiti, and street art. It's the most democratic art form and the biggest art movement worldwide in the past 20 years. As an artist, that's the community I want to be part of.”
The artist told us more about his creative process: “I start by creating sketches of my ideas, I get measurements of the object, pipes, vents, etc. and create stencils. I then use spray paint to color the pieces. The emotion I try to create is happiness. I want to create a simple graphic style much like a road sign, so the viewers who are mostly on social media can read them quickly as they scroll through their feeds, giving them a smile as they go about their day.”
Asked about typical challenges he encounters while working on his street art projects, Tom answered: “There are many challenges when working on the streets. The weather is always a factor, locations, equipment, ladders, etc. It's like camping, you have to make sure you have all your supplies when on the streets, especially when working alone, which I mostly do.”
The artist added: “Forgetting something is problematic, dealing with deadlines is always stressful.”
Lastly, we found out more about Tom’s creative plans: “At the moment I am working on studio portraits of street artists. I would love to make bigger street art pieces in the future, water tanks, etc.”
